John Wells
John Marcum Wells (born May 28, 1956) is an American theater, film and television producer, writer and director. He is the creator of Third Watch with his co-creator Edward Allen Bernero. He wrote the series pilot episode "Welcome to Camelot" based on his experiences as a medical, firefighters and police officers. He was credited as an Executive Producer throughout its sixth season run and often credited as being the one who created "3rd watch". He remained a writer, director and a senior producer throughout the series run. He is also the Executive Producer of the series ER, The West Wing, Southland and Shameless. Biography Early life Wells was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of Marjorie Elizabeth (née Risberg) and Llewellyn Wallace Wells, Jr., an Episcopalian minister. He graduated from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in 1979. A studio theatre at Carnegie Mellon University bears his name. While at CMU, he was one of the earliest actors to work at City Theatre, a prominent fixture of Pittsburgh theatre. Career Wells was a producer on the 1987 film Nice Girls Don't Explode. He began writing for television with an episode of CBS Summer Playhouse entitled "Roughhouse" in 1988. He was hired as a producer for the second season of ABC drama series China Beach in 1988. The show was created by John Sacret Young and William Broyles, Jr. and focused on combat medics in the Vietnam war. Wells wrote five episodes for the first season – "X-Mas Chn. Bch. VN, '67", "Tet '68", "Vets" and both parts of the two part season finale "The World". He was promoted to supervising producer for the third season of China Beach in 1989. He wrote three further episodes for the third season – "Dear China Beach", "Magic", and "The Thanks of a Grateful Nation". He returned as a co-executive producer for the fourth and final season in 1990. He was involved in writing ten further episodes. He co-wrote the story for the season premiere with Sacret Young, Carol Flint and Lydia Woodward and wrote the teleplay himself. He worked with the same team to develop the story for the second episode "She Sells More Than Sea Shells", the third episode "You, Babe", the fourth episode "Escape", the fifth episode "Fever", the sixth episode "Juice", the seventh episode "One Giant Leap" and the eighth episode "One Small Step". He co-wrote the fourteenth episode "Rewind" with Flint. He co-wrote the teleplay and co-wrote the story for the series finale "Hello Goodbye" along with Sacret Young. Wells wrote sixteen episodes of the series in total. He frequently worked with producer/director Mimi Leder on China Beach and she helmed six of the episodes he wrote. China Beach also marked the start of Wells working relationship with casting director John Frank Levey, editors Randy Jon Morgan and Jacque Toberen and directors Rod Holcomb and Fred Gerber. Wells worked on two television films in 1992 Angel Street and The Nightman. Wells co-wrote and was the co-executive producer of The Nightman. The film was directed by Charles Haid and is about a young man moving into a hotel run by a mother and daughter. Wells helped to adapt the teleplay from the radio drama by Lucille Fletcher. Angel Street was written and executive produced by Wells. It reunited him with several China Beach crew members including director Rod Holcomb, editor Jacque Toberen, and casting director John Frank Levey. The telefilm was followed by a series on which Wells again worked as an executive producer. Wells also wrote the screenplay for Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story, the project was produced in 1996 and starred Martin Sheen and Moira Kelly. ER In 1994 Wells was hired as an executive producer for the pilot of NBC medical drama ER. The show was created by novelist Michael Crichton. The pilot episode was directed by frequent Wells collaborator Rod Holcomb and John Frank Levey was involved as a casting director. The pilot was edited by frequent China Beach editor Randy Jon Morgan. Wells became the show runner and head writer for the ongoing series that followed the pilot. He was credited as an executive producer for all fifteen seasons of the series and served as the show runner for the first six seasons. He hired China Beach writer Lydia Woodward as a supervising producer and writer. China Beach director Mimi Leder also became a supervising producer and regular director. ER marked the start of Wells longstanding collaboration with producer/director Christopher Chulack and music composer Martin Davich. Wells wrote five episodes of the first season including the second episode "Day One", "Chicago Heat", "Feb 5 1995", "The Birthday Party", and the season finale "Everything Old Is New Again". Wells and the producers were nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 1995 ceremony for their work on the first season. The season was nominated for 23 Emmy Awards and won 8 in total. Wells and Michael Crichton won a Producers Guild of America Award at the 1994 ceremony. Wells and Crichton also received an honorable mention at the Wise Owl Awards in the Television and Theatrical Film Fiction category. Wells remained show runner for the second season in 1995. He hired his China Beach colleague Carol Flint as a co-executive producer for the second season. Wells wrote four more episodes for the second season – the season premiere "Welcome Back, Carter!", "Dead of Winter", "The Healers", and the season finale "John Carter MD". Wells and the producers won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 1996 ceremony for their work on the second season. Wells was also nominated for a Humanitas Prize (in the 60 minute category) and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the episode "The Healers". Wells remained the head writer for the third season in 1996 and wrote the season premiere "Doctor Carter, I Presume", "Faith", and the season finale "One More For The Road". Wells and the producers were nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 1997 ceremony for their work on the third season. Wells was again nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the episode "Faith". He continued in the same capacity for the fourth season in 1997 and wrote two further episodes "Fathers and Sons", and "Carter's Choice". Wells also made his television directing debut with his screenplay "Carter's Choice". Wells and the producers were nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 1998 ceremony for their work on the fourth season. Wells returned as head writer for the fifth season in 1998. He wrote both parts of the two part episode "The Storm" and also directed the first part. Wells and the producers were once again nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 1999 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Wells stood down as show runner after the fifth season but remained an executive producer and major creative force behind the series. In the 1999–2000 TV season his company Wells productions launched two new series The West Wing and Third Watch. Woodward took over as show runner for the sixth season but Wells wrote "The Peace of Wild Things" and wrote and directed "Such Sweet Sorrow". Wells and the producers were once again nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2000 ceremony for their work on the sixth season but lost out to Wells' other show The West Wing. Wells was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for his work on "Such Sweet Sorrow". He was also nominated for the 2000 PGA Vision Award for his work on ER, Third Watch and The West Wing. Wells continued to write for the seventh season and contributed two episodes "The Visit", and "A Walk in the Woods". Wells was nominated for a Humanitas Prize for his work on "A Walk in the Woods". Wells and the producers were once again nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2001 ceremony for their work on the seventh season and were again beaten by Wells's other series The West Wing. For the eighth season Wells wrote the episode "Secrets and Lies" and wrote the penultimate episode "On the Beach" which featured the departure of longterm cast member Anthony Edwards. Wells was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for his work on "On the Beach" at the 2002 ceremony. He was also nominated for a further Humanitas Prize and a Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award at the 2003 ceremony for the episode. For the ninth season Wells wrote the final episode "Kisangani". The episode was set in Africa and followed the characters of John Carter and Luka Kovač. He returned in fall 2003 to write the tenth season premiere "Now What?" and second episode "The Lost". The episodes continued to deal with Carter and Kovac's travels in Africa, particularly "The Lost" which featured Carter searching for a missing Kovac in the Congo. Wells also wrote mid-season episode "Makemba" which dealt with Carter beginning a relationship with the titular character, an AIDS worker. He wrote the penultimate episode "Midnight" which featured Carter's return to Chicago with a pregnant Makemba. Wells was again nominated for a Humanitas Prize, this time for his work on "Makemba". He continued to handle Carter's storylines for the eleventh season and wrote the penultimate episode "Carter est Amoureux" and directed the finale "The Show Must Go On" which marked the departure of Noah Wyle (who played Carter) from the starring cast. For the twelfth season Wells co-wrote the premiere episode "Canon City" with Lisa Zwerling and Joe Sachs. Wells served solely as an executive producer and director on the thirteenth and fourteenth seasons. He directed the thirteenth season episode "Jigsaw", and the fourteenth episode "300 Patients". He returned as a writer for the fifteenth and final season and wrote and directed the episode "Old Times" which featured the several past starring cast members including Noah Wyle, George Clooney, Julianna Margulies, and Eriq La Salle. When ER ended in 2009, Wells had written 31 episodes, and directed 7. Third Watch Wells co-created Third Watch with ex-Chicago police officer Edward Allen Bernero. Wells worked as show runner on Third Watch for its first three seasons and served as an executive producer throughout its six-season run. The series focused on emergency services workers across a single shift in New York. The first season began in 1999. Wells and Bernero co-wrote the pilot episode "Welcome to Camelot". Wells also wrote the first-season episodes "Sunny, Like Sunshine", "This Band of Brothers", "Spring Forward, Fall Back", and the first-season finale "Young Men and Fire". Wells wrote four second-season episodes the premiere entitled "The Lost", "Faith", "Requiem for a Bantamweight", and the finale "...and Zeus Wept". Wells directed the second-season episode "True Love". Wells wrote a further four episodes for the third season in 2001 – "September Tenth", "After Time", "Adam 55-3", and "Two Hundred and Thirty-Three Days". Bernero took over as show runner after the third season and Wells remained attached as an executive producer until Third Watch ended in 2005 but did not write any more episodes. Career Executive producer * Season One * Season Two * Season Three * Season Four * Season Five * Season Six Writer Season 1 * Welcome to Camelot * Sunny, Like Sunshine * This Band of Brothers * Spring Forward, Fall Back * Young Men and Fire Season 2 *The Lost *True Love *Requiem for a Bantamweight *...and Zeus Wep External links * John Wells at IMDb * John Wells at Wikipedia * [[w:c:southland:John Wells|John Wells at Southland wiki]] * [[w:c:westwing:John Wells|John Wells at The West Wing wiki]] * [[w:c:er:John Wells|John Wells at ER wiki]] Category:Producers Category:Writers